pitino + bird

["Caleb J. McArthur" <cmcarthu@umich.edu>]

After reading the latest article, I am once again lead to the conclusion
that "the rot starts from the top."  Gaston is a cancer who needs to be
excised from the organization.  He cares only about making a profit, not
winning a championship.  Unfortunately, the market hasn't forced him to
care about the latter.

Pitino's comments are discouraging, but not hopeless.  I think he would
seriously consider coming to the Celtics if the situation is right.  Here
are my reasons why and what it will take:

WHY --
	The Celtics have one thing going for them that only one other
organization has -- HISTORY.  If you win a championship with the Celtics,
you don't only win a championship, you become a part of history, a piece
of a great tradition.  You are all of a sudden lunped in with all the
great players and coaches that have won championships with the Celtics.
Moreover, the next championship the Celtics win will mark their triumphant
*return* to greatness.  What coach who cares about being part of a winning
tradition would not want to be the coach that lead the storied Celtics out
of the abyss back to their former glory.  There is no better basketball
story.  The history remains dormant while we continue to suck but it is
always there in the wings.  As soon as there is a possibility of us
winning, the history will become a great lure.

WHAT --
	The key is possibility of winning a championship.  It doesn't have
to be a certainty, or even a probability, it can take a lot of hard work,
but it has to be a reasonable possibility.  The whole hierarchy needs to
be revamped and Bird and Pitino know this.  I read Bird's comments and see
his actions and conclude that as he became more involved with the
organization he saw all the crap that had replaced the committment to
winning and became disgusted.  He wants to clean house and take control or
he wants out.  He is not going to sit around while this organization
wallows in apathy and greed, and I can't blame him.  The problem is that
the Gastons are not simply going to roll over and give him the reins.  So
what does Bird do?  He uses his status as Celtic God to put pressure on
the Gastons.  He threatens to leave (believe me he wants to stay, but only
with a committment to winning in place).  If the Gastons let Bird go, they
might start to feel a pinch from the consumers.  Bird further exposes the
Gastons by going to a very popular coach who says the Celtics have lost
their desire to win and that he would only come if Bird were GM. This is a
nice move.  Gastons are now pressured to give the reins to Bird or be
blamed for blowing a chance to get Mr. Pitino, a visible winner.  

	Will it work?  We will soon find out.  When the regular season
ends, the organization will announce whether or not Bird is the new GM.
If he is, then we are 1/3 of the way to getting Pitino.  The next step
towards "reasonable chance of winning" is getting the number one pick.
With Duncan, Walker, and Williams, the Celtics would have a good
foundation to build on.  The higher the Dalls pick, the better.  I can't
believe that Pitino would turn down a chance to come to an organization
with Bird in charge and the top two picks in the draft or even the 1 and
the 3.  The third element is money.  Pitino is not stupid.  He knows that
he is a hot commodity and should strike now.  He won't hold out for the
absolute most he can get, but we see is posturing ("I love it here at
Kentucky").  Believ me he is not as reluctant to leave Kentucky as he
claims, he just wants bargaining position.  will the Gastons cough up the
dough necessary to get Pitino when they have ML for much less?  That is
the biggest hurdle.  They won't have to match some other teams ridiculous
offer because of the lure of History, but they will have to make a large
enough offer to not make Pitino look like a fool for turning down the
highest offer and to give Pitino the financial security that makes leaving
Kentucky worthwhile.  Will all this come together?  Chances are slim:

optimisticly --

chance of getting number one = 40%
chance of bird taking over = 75% 
chance of Gastons paying high price of Pitino = 10%

.4 x .75 x .1 = 3%

Would this scenario be good?

People have criticized Bird for not being the brightest guy when it comes
to basketball decisions.  Well, that may be true, but he will learn
because he is willing to listen to the input of others.  Most importantly,
the one thing we know for sure about Larry bird is that he wants to win a
championship more than anybody else.  He may be proud and arrogant, but
that translates inot an intense desire to win.  That is the most important
quality for a GM.  That is the quality that will lure in the great coaches
and great players lloking to get a ring.
	What about Pitino?  He comes very high priced and is not
necessarily a wizard.  True, but he at least has a good coaching mind and
that is enough when coupled with his charisma.  His charisma will lure
many a FA wanting to play for him and will be the catalyst that holds
together a team of great players with big egos.  I think those two will
make a winning combination.  Is it the only winning combination?  Of
course not, but I think it would get us back on top the fastest.


Well, there is my two cents plus the federal deficit.

CJM